Photos: SXSW Day 3 - 3-13-08 in Austin, TX

Bowerbirds










Jason Collett












Northampton Wools










Black Helicopter










Tall Firs










Be Your Own Pet












J. Mascis




Thurston Moore Band

Videos: Ecstatic Peace Party at SXSW (3/14/2008) Thurston Moore, J Mascis (at Mohawk Patio)

I did my review of the party here. I've been having a myriad of problems getting my SXSW videos uploaded, but I managed to punch these through. The first is of J Mascis' final 10 minute jam session of his set. I had to go guerrilla style to get the video, so the visuals are not so great, but the audio is pretty good for a youtube vid, so check it out:



Here's a better vid someone else got:



Here's a few Thurston Moore vids. The first is "Honest James":



"Fri/End":



"The Shape Is In A Trance":

SXSW 2008 Day 3: Friday

I started out my Friday trying to catch Bon Iver again because my camera ran out of batteries the night before right after they started and I wanted to get some videos, but I arrived at Emo's too late to get anywhere near the front, so i just enjoyed some more of their stuff and moved on to the next venue. I caught the end of another Kaki King set, wich was cool because I missed the very end of the set i caught Wednesday night.



After that it was time to catch Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin. One of the guitarists had broken his amp, so they played as a 3 piece instead, and it really sounded to me like something was missing, so I left after a few songs.



After getting a great steak and brie sandwich at some weird biker bar, I went to see Evangelicals again. It was hard to hear the vocals in the particular spot I was in the night before, plus I really love this album, so I was very happy to catch them do another stunning show. That is another cool thing about this festival; If I want to see a band I love multiple times, it is no problem. Here is some live videos:







I stuck around to catch Cloud Cult next. Between this set full of new stuff and the tracks floating around the internet so far, I don't think I like the new material as much as I loved The Meaning Of 8 stuff, but they are still pretty good.







After that, we made our second attempt to catch Akron/Family. It was again a failure, and if there is one regret I will have about this fest, it is not seeing them. Although the party they were at had them listed in the biggest font, they played first. We did not figure that out until enduring a wanna-be Panda Bear act and some French dude who thought we was from the South with a puppet of himself. The upside was that the show was in a furniture store and they were serving free booze.





We dedicated the rest of the night to hanging out at the Ecstatic Peace party, Thurston Moore's record label. It was easily the best total party package of the fest so far. First we caught Northampton Wools, a noise project duo featuring Thurston. It was such an unbelievably awesome set, and there were only like 40 people in the room for it. If you can't tell from the alias I use on here, Sonic Youth is one of my favourite bands and living in Atlanta, I 've never got the chance to see some of the non-Youth stuff Thurston does live, so I feel so blessed to finally catch it.



The next band I caught that I really dug was Black Helicopter. They do good, hard stoner-rock, and I'm always a fan of that stuff.





The next great band I caught was Tall Firs. They were probably the closest thing to the Sonic Youth spectrum of all the bands I saw here, and they were damn good. Their newest album comes out Tuesday and their set was packed full of those tunes, so I'm pretty excited to hear it.





Next up was Be Your Own Pet. I had got their first album, and I had not really loved it, but they were so much better live than on record. Total old-school punk, thrashing around the stage like crazy. Nathan Vasquez's bass was stained with blood. The set got interrupted by a power outage, but it did not deter them as front-woman Jemina Pearl Abegg held a question and answer session for the crowd while the generators got refueled, and then they commenced the rock again.





The night kept getting better as J Mascis did a solo set. He blasted through his greatest hits and jammed out long and hard, ending with a 10 minute solo-fest. No matter how many times I catch him and in whatever incarnation, it is always a great show.



The night would end with Thurston Moore and his band (featuring Steve Shelley) doing a set comprised of pieces from his Trees Outside The Academy. It was everything I could have hoped for and more. There is really nothing I can say to describe how much I enjoy what Thurston does, so we'll just leave it at that. He did two encores, including a Velvet Underground song.



SXSW just doesn't stop amazing me. I have one last day and then it is over, so I'm gonna go live it up while I have the chance. Some time late next week, I'll post my Day4/Wrap-Up post. Biggie C has taken billions of beautiful pictures that will start showing up here soon and I still have a bunch of videos to upload, so stay tuned.

Humpday Randomnimity

Tonight is for this:



Radiohead is coming to Atlanta! Also, In Rainbows debuts those chart things at number one.

The Mars Volta have made an adventure game called Goliath The Soothsayer to promote the new album out in a few weeks (I can't wait!). Check it out.

Black Lips are doing a free show:



Black Lips " Veni Vidi Vici":



Justice is going to be in Orlando, Fl, but not Atlanta. Kinda lame.

Caribou is also skipping Atlanta, but will be in Athens, Ga on April 2nd and then they are doing 5 Florida shows.

Man Man also picks Athens over us on March 8th. They have a new album out on April 8th called Rabbit Hands.

Vampire Weekend will be at The Earl on March 9th. Video:



Blitzen Trapper will be at The Drunken Unicorn on March 20th.

The Coathangers are releasing a new 7" in March.

Jose Gonzalez will be at The Variety Playhouse March 2nd.

Bill Callahan (Smog) will be at The Red Light Cafe on February 25th.

Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks (which now includes Janet Weiss of Sleater-Kinney on drums) have a new album called Real Emotional Trash coming out on March 4th and will be at The Variety Playhouse March 26th.

Black Mountain and Blood On The Wall will be at The Earl on February 15th.

The Black Keys have a new album, Attack & Release, produced by Danger Mouse out on April 1st.

The big labels are shying away from DRM.

Creative Loafing interviews Yo La Tengo, who will at The Variety Playhouse Saturday night.

Barack Obama is chatting with hip-hop heads like Jay-Z and Kanye West.

Frank Black has a new release out in March.

Morrissey is trying to do a show in Iran.

You can stream the new Xiu Xiu album out January 29th on their myspace. New Vid:



Cool Silver Jews interview here.

Trent Reznor talks sales numbers from the Saul Williams Niggy Tardust album release experiment.

Review of Jon Brion's NYE show here.

New Thurston Moore video:



Eddie Vedder "Guaranteed":



Iron And Wine "Boy With A Coin":



MGMT on Letterman:



The Fiery Furnaces "Duplexes Of The Dead":

Video Of The Day: Thurston Moore

We heart Thurston:

Torrent Of The Day: Thurston Moore (9/29/2007)

Thurston Moore aka 1/2 old SY 2007-09-29 Rock and Roll Hotel Washington DC (16-bit) (FLAC)

Thurston moore band
Sept 29 2007
Rock and roll hotel
Washington dc
Mics>dat dat>aes/ebu>cd cd>eac>sf6>flac>td>you

Review by a member of the now defunct Q And Not U in the washington post:

Tuesday, October 2, 2007; Page C05
Thurston Moore
"I don't shut up, I grow up. And when I look at you, I throw up." you might remember that classic playground taunt from the '80s coming-of-age flick "Stand by Me," but it's also an apt description of Thurston Moore's performance at Rock & Roll Hotel Saturday night. Almost 30 years after forming legendary rock outfit Sonic Youth, the 49-year-old singer-guitarist is still making a racket, unfurling cuts from his new solo disc, "Trees Outside the Academy."

And then there's the "throw up" part: Moore discreetly puked on his guitar during "Off Work" -- a grungy new instrumental reminiscent of Sonic Youth's 1992 alterna-hit "100%." Thankfully, the illness was only momentary and the poor guy laughed it off, dedicating his next tune, "Fri/End," to "my friends" at a certain local eatery where he'd dined earlier that day.
Moore may have been strumming an acoustic guitar, but things got plenty noisy thanks to a backing troupe that featured Sonic Youth drummer Steve Shelley, No Neck Blues Band bassist Matt Heyner, violinist Samara Lubelski and guitarist Chris Brokaw. The four players added grit, but without overpowering those evocative melodies that perpetually reside beneath Sonic Youth's distortion-happy outer crust.
The set's highlight came early with "The Shape Is in a Trance," as Moore's guitar work evoked both classic Sonic Youth and the weathered melancholy of Neil Young. Forgive the expression, Thurston, but that jam is totally sick.
-- Chris Richards

1. Frozen Gtr
2. The Shape Is In a Trance
3. Silver > Blue
4. Off Work
5. Fri/End
6. Wonderful Witches
7. Never Day
8. Honest James
9. Trees Outside The Academy
10. Queen Bee & Her Pals
11. Feathers
12. Staring Statues
13. Patti Smith Math Scratch
14. Psychic Hearts

What The Hell (Hottness) Am I Listening To?!?

Since rarely do I discover two albums that totally amaze me at the same time, I've decided to combine two of my regular segments to convince you to check these albums out:

Akron/Family


The Akron/Family show i caught at the Earl early this year blew my mind and is still one of my top 3 favourite shows of the year. Ever since catching them live, I've searched out as much of their material as possible. While i did find some really good stuff, none of their previous studio work felt anywhere near the intensity level their live show was at, and I had pretty much assumed that they were just a band that was much better live. Their newest release, Love Is Simple, has totally changed my mind. In addition to every song being a stand alone hit, the album takes you on a journey through every emotion and dimension this band has mastered. They are anchored in conservative musicology like The Beatles and Grateful Dead but find extremely interesting places to go with that foundation. I consider these guys the greatest jamband going right now, and i doubt most of the wooks and bro-skies have ever heard of these guys. Check them out:

Don't Be Afraid, You're Already Dead


Of All The Things


Buy Love Is Simple Here

Akron/Family Myspace


Thurston Moore


Thurston's latest solo offering might be the most accessable Sonic Youth related release ever. While the masses of SY followers are making experiment and noise more mainstream every day, Thurston and Company have spent most of this decade crafting stunning pop songs, and Trees Outside The Academy is no exception. For a huge fan like me, this album feels like a greatest hits of Moore's riffs and sound effects stripped down and scultped into a completely unique and original piece of work. Don't miss this one:

Silver>Blue


Trees Outside The Academy


Buy Trees Outside The Academy Here

Sonic Youth Myspace

Monday Night Mash-Up

Smashing Pumpkins have announced more tour dates and will be in Athens, Ga November 7th.

Ghostface Killah is doing a college campus tour sponsored by Adult Swim and will be at Georgia Tech October 10th. ...And You Will Know Of From The Trail Of Dead will also be going on an Adult Swim sponsored tour with Dethklok of the series Metalocalypse. There are no dates for that yet and I'm not sure really how a band on a cartoon will play live shows.



Voodoo Festival, which we will be covering in New Orleans, LA at the end of October, has released a schedule.

Cable and Tweed have a review of the Black Lips, Selmanaires, and Coathangers show in Athens, Ga last week complete with live mp3s from the night. They also have a Do Make Say Think live show up.

Confessions Of A Music Addict have a great preview of the upcoming Atlantis Music Festival in Atlanta this week.

Band Of Horses will be at The Park Tavern in Piedmont Park October 14th.

Albums coming out tommorrow that I'm going to check out:







Get some nice PJ Harvey tracks here.

John Stewart will be hosting the 2008 Oscars.

Here's some videos:

M.I.A.:


Modest Mouse:


Arcade Fire:(ACL Fest 2007):

Friday Free-Style

Aw yeah, it's Friday again, Deerhunter or Kid Koala tonight! What to choose? Ted Leo and the Pharmacists will be at the Variety Playhouse Saturday night. I still don't know whether i'm going to that or the DJ Klever/Snowden extravanganza. Here's some videos to help me decide:

Deerhunter:



Ted Leo And The Pharmacists:



Snowden:



DJ Klever:



The Flaming Lips, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Wolfmother and more have made original tracks for the upcoming Spiderman 3 movie.

Bono is now a knight.

Sasquatch! Music Festival has added Clinic, Blackalicious, The Polyphonic Spree, and an extra Beastie Boys instrumental set plus many more acts. Check it out. Beastie Boys have a new album coming out this year.

Patti Smith is doing a covers album.

The new season of the Henry Rollins Show, starting next month, will feature live performances from The Mars Volta, The Stooges, and Ryan Adams and interviews with Marilyn Manson and Iggy Pop.

Black Eye Peas member Taboo got arrested for driving too high.

Tegan And Sara release their new album, The Con, in July.

The Smashing Pumpkins first performance will be in Paris. I'm kinda glad they will get their rust out overseas before (hopefully) playing a bunch of US dates.

Marilyn Manson and Slayer are going on tour together this summer. Marilyn Manson has new album out in June.

Korn and Evanescense are co-headlining this years helping of the Family Values Tour. Nu-metal will never die!!!

moe.down festival has added Ryan Adams and The Meat Puppets to their line-up. This fest held the August 30th-September 2nd in New York will also feature Medeski Martin and Wood and 6 sets from moe. over the weekend. 6 sets of moe. would make me mow down some wookies.

The Black Crowes are working on a new album.

The White Stripes have gotten creative with their marketing and created a puzzle about their new album:




Isaac Brock is not feeling the pressure of having the Billboard's #1 album.

Ratdog and Keller Williams will be at Chastain Park on July 7th.

The Preakness have a new 7" coming out.

Here's a new Trans Am video featuring former-The Mars Volta drummer Jon Theodore acting:



Kevin Barnes is already working on another Of Montreal album.

Thurston Moore and Jim O'Rourke are collaberating with some others to form a noise-supergroup. Yaher!

Thurston Moore is working on a new solo album at J Mascis studio produced by John Agnello (Rather Ripped #16 of 2006). There's a video of Thurston performing one of the songs at SXSW here.

Brightblack Morning Light will be at the Earl April 23rd. Here's an MP3: Everybody Daylight

Arctic Monkeys and Be Your Own Pet will be at the Tabernacle on May 19th.

Ozzfest is building its line-up, and Atlanta's Daath is playing some dates among others.

Interviews on the read-read:

• Of Montreal
• Black Lips
• The Decemberists
• !!!
• Ted Leo
• Cold War Kids
• CocoRosie
• Bright Eyes
• Explosions In The Sky
• The Shins
• Pelican

Some Vids to discover and then go read the interview:

Pelican:



CocoRosie:

Torrent Of The Day: Thurston Moore at SXSW

Thurston performing songs from an upcoming solo album. Drogging with an acoustic:

Thurston Moore and Friends (sonic youth) 2007-03-xx sxsw - austin - tx (16-bit) (FLAC)

Thurston moore w/
Steve Shelley on drums and Sumara Lubelski on violin
03-16-07
Mohawk patio
Sxsw
Austin tx
Trks 1-7

03-17-06
End of an ear
Sxsw
Austin tx
Trks 8-14

Mics>dat>cd>eac>sf6>flac>td>you


i think moore did 6 shows at sxsw. here are two. good quality. end of ear is real good quality. fits on 1 cd. i have been to alot of festivals and sxsw is THE best. plus i only spent $3 on music.